Mich. Comp. Laws » Michigan Compiled Laws / Chapter 600 / Act 236 of 1961
Michigan Compiled Laws

Mich. Comp. Laws § 600.2538 (2026)

Payments of support or maintenance collected by friend of the court or state disbursement unit; fee; notice; contempt for failure or refusal to pay fee; centralized receipt and disbursement of support; creation of attorney general's operations fund; “state disbursement unit” or “SDU” defined.

✓ current as of July 2026
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REVISED JUDICATURE ACT OF 1961


Act 236 of 1961


600.2538 Payments of support or maintenance collected by friend of the court or state disbursement unit; fee; notice; contempt for failure or refusal to pay fee; centralized receipt and disbursement of support; creation of attorney general's operations fund; “state disbursement unit” or “SDU” defined.

Sec. 2538.

    (1) For services provided that are not reimbursable under the provisions of part D of title IV of the social security act, 42 USC 651 to 669b, every person required to make payments of support or maintenance to be collected by the friend of the court or the state disbursement unit shall pay a fee of $3.50 per month for every month or portion of a month that support or maintenance is required to be paid. The fee shall be paid monthly, quarterly, or semiannually as required by the friend of the court. The friend of the court shall provide notice of the fee required by this section to the person ordered to pay the support and that the fee shall be paid monthly or as otherwise determined by the friend of the court. The friend of the court or SDU shall transmit each fee collected under this section as follows:

    (a) Two dollars and twenty-five cents to the appropriate county treasurer for deposit into the general fund of the county to be used to fund the provision of services by the friend of the court that are not reimbursable under part D of title IV of the social security act, 42 USC 651 to 669b.

    (b) For fees assessed on or after October 1, 2003, 25 cents to the state treasurer for deposit in the fund created in subsection (4).

    (c) One dollar to the state treasurer for deposit in the state court fund created in section 151a.

    (2) A court may hold a person who fails or refuses to pay a service fee ordered under subsection (1) in contempt.

    (3) The SDU is responsible for the centralized receipt and disbursement of support. An office of the friend of the court may continue to receive support and fees.

    (4) An attorney general's operations fund is created within the state treasury. The state treasurer may receive money or other assets from any source for deposit into the fund. The state treasurer shall direct the investment of the fund. The state treasurer shall credit to the fund interest and earnings from fund investments. Money in the fund at the close of the fiscal year shall remain in the fund and shall not lapse to the general fund. The department of attorney general shall expend money from the fund, upon appropriation, for operational purposes.

    (5) As used in this section, "state disbursement unit" or "SDU" means the entity established in section 6 of the office of child support act, 1971 PA 174, MCL 400.236.

History: Add. 1993, Act 189, Imd. Eff. Oct. 8, 1993 ;-- Am. 1999, Act 151, Imd. Eff. Nov. 3, 1999 ;-- Am. 2003, Act 138, Eff. Oct. 1, 2003 ;-- Am. 2003, Act 178, Eff. Oct. 1, 2003 ;-- Am. 2009, Act 239, Imd. Eff. Jan. 8, 2010

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 2 cases, 1999–2015 · leading case: Trantham v. State Disbursement Unit, 882 N.W.2d 170 (Mich. Ct. App. 2015).
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Trantham v. State Disbursement Unit, 882 N.W.2d 170 (Mich. Ct. App. 2015). · cites it 30× “Plaintiff sought in part to stop collection of the fees, to have MCL 600.2538 declared unconstitutional, and to have the purportedly im *161 proper fees placed in a common fund for the benefit of plaintiff and those similarly situated.”
Harvey v. Harvey, 603 N.W.2d 302 (Mich. Ct. App. 1999). “MCL 600.2538(1); MSA 27A.2538(1) provides that “every person required to make payments of support or maintenance to be collected by the friend of the court shall pay a fee of $1.”
— Mich. Comp. Laws § 600.2538(1) — 2 cases
Trantham v. State Disbursement Unit, 882 N.W.2d 170 (Mich. Ct. App. 2015). “Plaintiff sought in part to stop collection of the fees, to have MCL 600.2538 declared unconstitutional, and to have the purportedly im *161 proper fees placed in a common fund for the benefit of plaintiff and those similarly situated.”
Harvey v. Harvey, 603 N.W.2d 302 (Mich. Ct. App. 1999). “MCL 600.2538(1); MSA 27A.2538(1) provides that “every person required to make payments of support or maintenance to be collected by the friend of the court shall pay a fee of $1.”
— Mich. Comp. Laws § 600.2538(l)(a) — 1 case
Trantham v. State Disbursement Unit, 882 N.W.2d 170 (Mich. Ct. App. 2015). “Plaintiff sought in part to stop collection of the fees, to have MCL 600.2538 declared unconstitutional, and to have the purportedly im *161 proper fees placed in a common fund for the benefit of plaintiff and those similarly situated.”
— Mich. Comp. Laws § 600.2538(l)(b) — 1 case
Trantham v. State Disbursement Unit, 882 N.W.2d 170 (Mich. Ct. App. 2015). “Plaintiff sought in part to stop collection of the fees, to have MCL 600.2538 declared unconstitutional, and to have the purportedly im *161 proper fees placed in a common fund for the benefit of plaintiff and those similarly situated.”
— Mich. Comp. Laws § 600.2538(l)(c) — 1 case
Trantham v. State Disbursement Unit, 882 N.W.2d 170 (Mich. Ct. App. 2015). “Plaintiff sought in part to stop collection of the fees, to have MCL 600.2538 declared unconstitutional, and to have the purportedly im *161 proper fees placed in a common fund for the benefit of plaintiff and those similarly situated.”
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